Readership survey 2011.

Dear Colleagues,

Happy New Year 2012

At the outset, I would like to thank all those who have been supporting me in bringing out Journal of Oral and Maxillofacial Pathology (JOMFP) for the year 2011. I thank all the authors, reviewers and sponsors who have spared their valuable time and resources for this journal. From this issue, we are planning a more welcoming outlook for JOMFP and we want to march forward for a brighter future collectively with you all. In order to estimate the JOMFP's Strengths, Weaknesses, Opportunities and Threats, we designed a SWOT analysis, which needed a wide feedback from readers.

The first ever JOMFP Readership Survey was conducted between November 2011 and December 2011. The survey had 10 close-ended questions with multiple choices and was hosted on a website. Invitations to this survey were emailed to 857 Oral Pathologists and specialists from allied specialities from India and abroad. Complete anonymity was ensured during the survey. Four hundred and fifty-two (52.74%) visited the survey site and 269 (31.38%) attempted answering the questionnaire. Two hundred and sixty-seven had completed the survey, with a response rate of 31.15%. This indicates that one in three people, whom JOMFP had contacted, replied back. Eighty percent of the respondents wished to receive the table of contents of each issue by email and only 14% have subscribed to this free-of-cost facility by registering through the journal website. The academic position of respondents is depicted in Figure 1. Oral Pathology professors were the very interested respondents. JOMFP was perceived as interesting or very interesting by 97% of the respondents. Eighty percent of them declared that they accessed the JOMFP website frequently. Eighty-eight percent felt that the JOMFP websites were user-friendly, while 9% felt that working with the JOMFP website is time-consuming. Table 1 gives the split among the various academic grades of the respondents for the content, access and friendliness of the website. Only 35% of them felt that new technologies and updates are incorporated into JOMFP. Forty-two percent of them felt that articles in JOMFP are suited for Oral Pathology practice. Forty-seven percent felt that the manuscripts are scientifically valid and 51% agreed that the data or the cases have been adequately handled by authors. As JOMFP immediacy index (the rate of getting articles cited as soon as the issue is published) is also too low, I request all potential authors to submit original researches that will suit the contemporary global research arena.

Figure 1

Pie chart depicting the respondents on academic position

Table 1

Distribution of responses in percentages for the content of manuscripts, access and website

As regards to the quality of the manuscripts, 70% felt that the manuscripts are understandable and 29% replied that the articles are written with care. Thirty-eight percent of the respondents felt that the current manuscripts adhere to the aims and scope of the Journal. Table 2 gives the split of the responses by the academic grade of the respondents.

Table 2

Distribution of responses in percentages for the quality of the manuscripts

I am happy to share with you that 92% of all respondents awarded JOMFP an overall score of above 5 on a scale of 10, while about half of them gave a score of 7 and above. The individual spilt is given in Figure 2.

Figure 2

Distribution of overall scores of JOMFP

This survey is a maiden attempt to introspect so as to make JOMFP a competent global participant in the field of Maxillofacial Pathology. With the new team of nationally, and internationally renowned publishers (Wolters Kluwer Health), our presence will be observed across the globe through their vast network, contacts and experience they bring with them. It is my sincere request to all potential authors to contribute manuscripts that the readers find interesting and I hope that this survey will be a source of guidance. As reflected by the first ever readership survey, JOMFP has to be improved in certain aspects:

Only clinically relevant articles need to be published

Articles that impact daily practise need to be encouraged

Original research manuscripts are much sought after.

Only interesting and rare cases need to be encouraged in future.

Readership base needs to be widely increased.

I request all the members of the Association and the Fraternity to help in improving the quality of the scientific content of JOMFP.

I wish to thank the Principal and Management of Ragas Dental College and Hospital, Chennai and the entire department of Oral & Maxillofacial Pathology for their constant support.

At this juncture, I would like to thank and acknowledge the hard work of my predecessor Dr. B. Sivapathasundaram and his contribution for JOMFP by making it visible globally.

I am very thankful to Dr. D. K. Sahu, the Past Executive Director of Medknow, who had stood by us since the inception of the journal on the web. His guidance will be solely missed by our team. We sincerely believe that the new management of the publishing firm will be able to guide us to great heights, and we look forward to working with them.

Last but not the least, I wish to extend my heartfelt thanks to all those who responded to our first ever readership survey.

I look forward to hearing from you.